Down River International, Inc.

Signode Industrial Group LLC

Illinois Tool Works Inc.

Greif Bros. Corporation

Premark Packaging LLC

George C Boyse

Marc Steven Johnson

Christopher Wayne Baker

Anthony Trassare, Jr

Randolph L Gray

Steven R Morgan

Richard S Colombero

Joseph A Diaz

David J Wierzbicki

Jane A Gutierrez

David Arnold Christiansen

Oliver L Gee, Jr

Contour pad

A shipping container load securer including a pallet and a box connected to the pallet and filled with a filler, wherein the pallet and the box are substantially the same size and shape as a standardized crate used to package goods for transport in shipping containers. The load securer fills voids in partially filled shipping containers, enabling the shipping container to be tightly packed and preventing the movement of goods-filled crates during transport to minimize damage to the goods in the crates in the shipping container, while not substantially increasing the weight of the container.

Shipping container load securer

A shock absorption and restraint apparatus including a plurality of co-acting cushioned pads which create a protective shock absorbing barrier for a load in a railroad car (or other shipping container) and a set of straps which are employed to restrain the cushioned pads and the load. In certain embodiments, the cushioned pads include one or more central or connector cushioned pads and one or more side or cooperating cushioned pads. In certain embodiments, the cushioned pads include strap engaging mechanisms which are configured to be engaged by the straps. The cushioned pads are preferably lightweight, easy to handle and install, recyclable, and readily reusable. In certain embodiments, the cushioned pads are configured, sized, and constructed in such a way to protect the specific load in the railroad car.

Shock absorption and restraint apparatus

Double block honeycomb panel void-filler

A multi-panel hollow door has a core made of corrugated paperboard. The core is formed from a stack of plies in which adjacent plies are adhered to one another in accordance with a predetermined pattern of adherence (e.g., a gluing pattern). The stack is expanded in a direction perpendicular to the plies to form an elongated series of cells disposed longitudinally between transversely spaced panel indentations of a door skin, at a central region of the door. Each cell has a pair of transversely spaced vertices, and juxtaposed end portions of vertex-forming plies form tabs. Each tab is preferably oriented to overlap an adjacent portion of a vertex-forming ply, the desired orientation being obtained by partial slitting of a single vertex-forming ply. Unexpanded end portions of a stack of plies may be broken off to form pads between corresponding portions of the skins.

Multi-panel hollow door structures and manufacturing methods employing paperboard cores

An improved wrapped deck pallet assembly is provided which is comprised of an envelope having smooth exterior surfaces and an internal support structure nested within the envelope for enhancing the overall strength of the wrapped deck pallet. In the first embodiment, the envelope has a base, side walls and four flaps, and is formed such that the flutes of the base and the flutes of the flaps are running in a non-parallel angular or perpendicular direction to one another when the envelope is folded. The internal structure includes optional top and bottom flat paperboard decks that sandwich a plurality of blocks to form an internal rigid structure located within the envelope. Preferably the flutes of the top deck will be oriented to extend in a non-parallel angular direction or perpendicular to the flutes of the top flaps of the envelope. A second embodiment employs the same internal rigid structure however, an envelope of different configuration is employed which has a pair of elongated flaps which nest together to form a smooth exterior configuration. Yet another embodiment is disclosed which uses a plurality of elongated reinforced structures that are sandwiched between a top deck and a bottom deck on the base of the envelope. The resulting pallet has superior strength properties when compared to pallets made of conventional designs and also reduces the likelihood of portions of the internal support structure being dislodged and/or lost.

Wrapped deck pallet

A void filler (14, 16) especially suited for filling large volumes is made from first and second panels (18, 20), each panel having a core (26) sandwiched between face sheets (22, 24). The core is typically a corrugated honeycomb core so that the panel is stiff, strong and yet lightweight. The panels each have generally horizontal upper and lower edges (30, 32) and generally vertical first and second (34, 36) edges. The panels are connected at a hinge (44) along their upper edges. A limiter (50), attached at or near the lower edges, limits the movement of the lower edges away from one another so the panels can move from a flat, storage condition to a use condition, exhibiting a generally inverted V-shape. Two void fillers can be hingedly connected to form an M-shaped void filler assembly (2). The void fillers are typically used between a container bulkhead (10) and a load (8); the upper and lower edges of the void filler are aligned between the load and the bulkhead so the forces on the void filler are exerted on the generally vertical edges during transit.

Void filler

A collapsible, open cell void filler (2) is made by stacking a series of paper core sheets (58) and gluing the core sheets to one another at appropriate points (56) to create a generally hexagonal open cell core structure when expanded. The stack (60) of core sheets is cut along a series of cutting planes (62) to create rows of independently expandable hexagonal cells (16). The end cells (20) of each row are connected to one another by an outer sheet (18) to create a core slab (68). When the outer sheets are separated, the rows of cells expand from their collapsed, reduced volume condition to their expanded, increased volume condition. As the cells expand they separate laterally from one another along the cutting planes. This eliminates deformation of the cells and permits the full extension of the rows of cells. Deck sheets (6) can be fastened to the outer sheets so that when the core slab is expanded, the deck sheets lie adjacent the open cell ends (28).

Void filler and method for manufacture

An expansible honeycomb-type void filler formed of stacked strips secured together at spaced and staggered positions to define cell walls which vary in length to provide vertically aligned shortened stretch-limiting walls which reduce hourglass-type distortion, has suspension means consisting of a supporting top strip of the stack and a suspension structural element, said suspension means also including parts movable in a direction lengthwise of the strips to provide openable cells between the suspension structural element and the supporting top strip of the stack. The void filler is also disclosed as having widened adhesive connections in an upper region, and as being formed of corrugated paperboard which is partially crushed.

Growing community of inventors

Rocklin, CA, United States of America

George C Boyse